(Via The Blogging Nurseryman - The Art of Running a Small Garden Center or Nursery)

Posted by admin to Small is Cool, nursery on 2008-03-21, 10:27:52

Saturday I will be at the Sacramento Perennial Plant Club sale trying to entice people to make the trip up the hill to see us. I will be selling some special plants that I have picked out from the nursery. Very special prices for the plant sale, too! Every year Saul Wiseman, who is the [...]

(Via The Blogging Nurseryman - The Art of Running a Small Garden Center or Nursery)

Posted by admin to Small is Cool, nursery on 2008-03-18, 06:34:02

I want to address Jays concerns with my last post, Reducing inventory while increasing sales. Jay says,“They (the chain stores) offer the most popular items which account for the major percentage of their sales and give up the opportunity to sell slow moving items (which either don’t contribute to profit or do so minimally).” He [...]

(Via The Blogging Nurseryman - The Art of Running a Small Garden Center or Nursery)

Posted by admin to Small is Cool, nursery, retail on 2008-03-17, 07:52:37

I thought this post has a lot to offer the smaller independent garden center, even though it involves bookstores. Recently Borders cut it’s inventory by 5 to 10% and saw it’s sales increase by 9%. What they did is start placing more of their books on the shelves facing with the cover out, rather than [...]

(Via The Blogging Nurseryman - The Art of Running a Small Garden Center or Nursery)

Posted by admin to Small is Cool, independent, nursery, retail on 2008-03-12, 08:35:04

Just read a great article on the difficulties, and rewards of starting a small retail garden center. The article can be found here at The Green Beam. It follows owner Cliff, who had a dream of starting his own garden center in Alabama. What I found interesting and you may too is how long it takes [...]

(Via The Blogging Nurseryman - The Art of Running a Small Garden Center or Nursery)

Posted by admin to Blogging, Small is Cool, independent, nursery, nurseryman, retail on 2008-01-12, 09:00:31

My blog, which started as just a way for me to talk to my potential customers as blossomed into something more. I realized this after someone ended up at my site after Googgling “we want to start a nursery”. Low and behold it is, as of this writing the first site to show up. I have been getting more and more interest from people who want to know what it means to start and run a small nursery or garden center. Of course I am still trying to figure that out, but I do realize that some of the stuff I take for granted is of great interest to someone just starting out.

This year I am going to try and give you a feel for what some of the day to day issues that come up in a small garden center are. Maybe it will help you decide if this business is right for you. I don’t have all the answers. No nursery person does. Its through sharing that we will all be more successful in our efforts. I have received invaluable advice from this blog. Fellow nuserypeople as well as enthusiastic gardeners have given me advice as well as inspiration which we have acted on. Being open this spring seven days a week was one such result of reader feedback.

I invite everyone to participate. If you are a gardener but don’t feel your ideas would be appreciated by a professional, you are wrong! Its your advice that I need to help design a better garden center experience. I also appreciate professional advice from people who have been where I find myself now in my garden center career. Realize that while I appreciate your advice there are others who are visiting this blog who are also listening and learning. By helping me you will be helping lots of people who still find this profession interesting and worth while. The challenges are many but through our “connection” we will be able to meet those challenges and enthusiastically work together to create the “garden scene” of the future. I see a gardening revolution taking place as we speak! Revolutions are generally messy and uncertain, but at the other end I see a stronger “garden scene” that we will all remember because we we’re there at the Renaissance.

All right, enough of that. Monica is giving me that look that says “get off that computer and let’s get to work”. It’s off to the first working day of the new year. Cheers!